Electronic Manufacturers and Retailers, Recyclers, Environmentalists and State Officials Explore Options for Safely Disposing Dangerous Electronic Was

Electronic Manufacturers and Retailers, Recyclers, Environmentalists and State Officials Explore Options for Safely Disposing Dangerous Electronic Waste

Today, the bipartisan Congressional E-Waste Working Group will bring together some of the nation's largest e-waste stakeholders to develop a solution to the growing problem of obsolete electronics disposal. The participants, who represent electronic manufacturers and retailers, recyclers, environmental groups and state officials, will be discussing what role the federal government can play to mitigate e-waste's harmful effects and how to distribute responsibility for disposal.

The Congressional E-Waste Working Group, which includes Reps. Mike Thompson (CA-01), Mary Bono (CA-45), Louise Slaughter (NY-28) and Zach Wamp (TN-03), was formed in 2005 to explore options to the problem of e-waste. The group invited stakeholders to Capitol Hill to discuss potential solutions.

Rep. Mike Thompson said: "The problem e-waste poses to the environment and our health is clear, and it is encouraging that many groups are actively working toward a solution. However, rather than having a patchwork of state regulations and individual company policies, a federal solution may be a more effective approach. By bringing these groups together to sort through the options, we'll be a lot closer to finding a realistic way of decreasing the amount of e-waste ending up in our landfills."

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http://mikethompson.house.gov/newsroom/index.asp?ID=94